Volunteer reading in schools
Monday June 13, 2011
Hundreds of schoolchildren across the borough are benefitting from a campaign to help youngsters with reading difficulties become literate for life.
The campaign, ran by national charity ‘Volunteer Reading Help’ (VRH) sees people give up their spare time to give children an opportunity to become confident and literate by providing them with regular one-to-one reading support.
The cost of illiteracy to society is huge, with a KPMG study recently estimating that the cost of illiteracy to the public purse is £1.73billion a year.
In London, one on four children leave primary school without reaching the required literacy level. These same children struggle to catch up in secondary school and face increasing risks of longer term social and economic exclusion.
VRH has been active at Lena Gardens Primary School, Hammersmith for many years. Headteacher Calum Fairley said: “The vast majority of our children do very well but one or two of them do struggle with reading. The volunteers are wonderful and really become a part of the school and integrated into its workings and curriculum. We have three helpers here - they listen to the children reading and also read to them, sometimes in groups. But they do much more than just reading. One of them has retired from running his own business and is helping a pupil with special needs and trying to build up his confidence. They really are a terrific service.”
Cllr Helen Binmore, cabinet member for children’s services said: “The effects of illiteracy can be devastating as illiteracy has proven links with social exclusion, unemployment, poverty and crime. I am delighted that Volunteer Reading Help is working so closely with many of our schools and I know that all of the pupils involved in the scheme will find it to be very beneficial."
The charity is working with the London paper, the Evening Standard, on a campaign to Get London Reading. The Evening Standard’s campaign follows a series of articles that exposed the serious problem of illiteracy in the capital.
